Bottle carton



July20,'-1943. FIORE 2,324,171

BOTTLE CAR'i'ON Filed Sept. 3, 1941 2 sh'eetssheet 1 INVENTOR. OTTO F/ 025 BY'MM ATTORNEXS mmesm mmwnme his mvatma eae we w It hasbee kndwn heretofore to prbvideeak tens 0; carriers for ap1ura1ity or bottles ihyvhieh thecart on is made from a single blank oi mete-y ie'lhut and sjcpred tomform a receptacle wherein mm; they may he reaqn earned about. 1 7

pqrthntiaeto: involved inthe constructing; of such 'ar carton ie to provide suitable: retention mean's my the bdttles, designdftdf ajbid acci-IX dental disp1acement ighei'eqf 01? contact bepw en aaqjaeentfbottles in the car onwhen beingFcarn e, without unduly eakening the S'ti fictigreof the cartonfby excessive cuttihgand scorin g of,

the ,wal is thereof.

ti ons of the side wellslfof the gmpansmene; and wherein reteining members; iplmed irprh the I 1 111; by cuttmgmneeg e inwarjqlyjibra amdng the side edges there-jot, extendecmss theopen ends dtthe compartment "co preyent accidental @Afur'ther feature OI theiiniienltiqn tb ptml ride the retaining. mjembersljafthhpnend of the bd tt lecompartment with cushi qningfel el rgents hatprdject between opposed end bottles in said,

"rows; and that; are eaused tosssu etheir innervenjng ppsit ions byjthefactlbnp iheej int said; end bottles in the 1 compartment;

1m ere ted or s e-u poei ubh, an jeadyrorgaq- Justinent lo! the any! M tq thleip is an endel evetibn I 1s a. tragmentery perspeetlvje lngmember and its cushienjng element inbpera ceivethe end bottles.

The blank from whlch the carten jis fprmecl a transverse score linel dadjaficfe'nt mepupe; hd f jthe h lank i s aninterthedietefportio liwhieh combines with ajsimilarjport ibn aqch other "end? The 'twd extreme om; br'ought together and s I against ,c

cai'ried. I

1 width 01; each aperture 10 ifialsqehchftht the cushions which extend downwardly betweenfand of d bl we an here we w tb f ifs n made to coritair isix bbttles arranged in twq'par z ellel rows, ashel ein illustrate c ifithewi dth oftheff I mam; iS'Suchthatthelongitudihal ec1ges {of the "cqmpartment portio ribf thecar tonwill subsbeh tiallyj alighwithiheduterl edges gffph nd bong f tle of the twerowsg 'At a poihiq intermediate Fx bmthe cent enof the scored lines "defining theupper endsQofwthe side walls I SQthe material of thejetter is eqyddw nw ardly tom intermediate pqlntsw hereof [to form bottle apertures 20 of substantially the configuration of the; upper pox,-

tibh bf a bpttle andof e. w idth which willfpe mit of the insertion of the bottle into; haid apertuge when the cartonis m: its efeetedfposition. The

i mini iztmiidssipflity 11; cbming infto jarring turesjfl dependfronithe hendleporti on l6 centra lly into the bottle compartment and provide engage the two opposed bottles mounted in the apertures and thus prevent said bottles from coming into direct contact with each other, as best illustrated in Figures 5 and 6.

Retaining and cushioning means are also provided for the end bottles of the two parallel rows mounted within the bottle compartment. In accordance with the present invention, these means are formed by cutting the side edges of both sections ll of the blank along the longitudinally-curved lines 22 to provide the opposed strips 23 which are hingedly connected to the side walls l5 at the scored lines 24. The strips are also transversely scored along the lines 25, 26 and 21, and the portions of said strips between the lines 24 and 25 are diagonally, scored at 28 to form a bellows fold which permits the strips to assume the operative positions thereof, illustrated in Figures 5 and '7.

At 29, the two strips 23 are stitched together and this stitching divides each pair of strips into a bottle retaining member 30 and a cushioning element 3|, the member 30 extending transversely across the adjacent open end of the bottle compartment when the member is in its operative position, and the cushioning element 3| projecting between and engaging the adjacent opposed-end bottles in the two parallel rows. In this manner the end bottles are prevented from being accidentally dislodged through the otherwise open ends of the compartment and the end bottles are prevented from coming into direct contact with each other. The edges of the side walls formed by each of the cuts 22 are of such curvature as to engage the lower neck portions of the adjacent end bottles in somewhat the same manner as the central bottles are engaged by the edges of the apertures 20 and such engagement of said edges aids in maintaining the end bottles against contact with the central bottles when the carton is filled.

The present carton is of such construction that it is immaterial, when filling the same with bottles, whether the'central bottles of the two parallel rows are first inserted into their respective apertures 20, or whether the end bottles are initially placed in position; After the carton has been adjusted from its collapsed position of Figure 2 to the erected position of Figure 3 and it is desired to insert an end bottle into the compartment, the end member 30 is first folded inwardly on the diagonal fold lines 28 to the position of Figure '7. In this position, the strips constituting the member 36 will be disposed substantially vertically and the cushioning element 3| will project inwardlyin a horizontal direction so that it will be arranged between and engage and thus cushion. the two end bottles (see Figure 6) that are inserted into the compartment on opposite sides of said element 3|. The operation just described may then be repeated at the other end of the carton. This maybe done either before or after the insertion of the central bottles through the apertures 20. I

'What is claimed is:

l. A collapsible carton for bottles having shoulder portions formed from a blank of material folded upon itself intermediate its ends to i provide opposed sections with the latter scored transversely to form a base portion and opposed intermediate and handle portions all constituting an open-ended compartment the side walls of which are formed from said intermediate portions and the handle portions of which are secured together in face-to -face relationship at the top, each of the intermediate portions adjacent its handle portion being cut transversely inwardly from its outer longitudinal edge and then downwardly for a part of its length to provide article retaining strips having free upper ends, and the outer edges of said strips being continuations of the longitudinal edges of said blank of tend across the adjacent open end of said compartment.

2. A collapsible carton for bottles formed from v a blank of material folded upon itself intermediate its ends to provide opposed sections with the latter scored transversely to form abase portion and opposed intermediate and handle portions all constituting an open-ended compartment the side walls of which are formed from said intermediate portions and the handle portions of which are secured together in face-to-' face relationship at the top, each of the intermediate portions adjacent its handle portion being cut transversely inwardly from its outer longitudinal edge and then further out downwardly along and inwardly of said edge for a part of its length to provide article retaining strips having free upper ends, and the outer edges of said strips being continuations of the longitudinal edges of said blank of material, transverse fold lines at the other lower ends of said strips, means to secure together said opposed strips atpoints spaced from the free ends thereof whereby said free ends project to define cushioning elements at said ends, other transverse fold lines in said strips adjacent said securing means, and further fold lines in said strips adjacent the first named fold lines and extending diagonally relative thereto, said strips, when connected by said securing means and with the carton in erected position, being pivotally movable about said diagonal lines and said other transverse lines to' positions in which the strips combine to extend fiatwise to the sides-of the carried bottles across the adjacent open end of said compartment with said cushioning elements projecting laterally from said strips a sufficient distance intosaid open end soas to be disposed between adjacent bottles at the end of said compartment.

3. A collapsible carton as defined'in claim 1,

wherein the cuts in said intermediate portion 

